


Patch Pickin'

by cassiexrailly



Category: Yellowstone (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26755465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiexrailly/pseuds/cassiexrailly
Summary: It's autumn on the ranch and that means only one thing: Cara Amelie Dutton is going into Halloween mode. Decorating the ranch is her favorite activity. But what happens when Kayce and she spring a surprise on Tate, her step-son and Kayce's own. Because, realistically, they could find a pumpkin just any old place...A part of #Hauntober on tumblr | Week 1 Day 1 | Prompt: Pumpkin
Relationships: Kayce Dutton/Cara Mason(Dutton), Kayce Dutton/OC
Kudos: 4





	Patch Pickin'

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy this cute little one-shot from a collection of them i'll be posting for #Hauntober on tumblr!! i'm really so proud of this one! and there's a little extra surprise at the end... :3

Cara got up before the sun even dared to show itself above the horizon line, before any of its light filtered into the hazy purple, blue black of the late evening sky. The room was chilly despite the fire still raging in the hearth across the small room and the baseboard heat cranked up to eighty degrees. Autumn and winter in rural Montana meant the cold persisted despite best civilized efforts. It also meant fluffy socks and flannel and thick sweaters and scarves. Autumn on the ranch was Cara’s favorite time of year.

Her thick wool boot socks hit the hardwood; thankful she couldn’t feel the chill from the flooring through them. Flannel pajama bottoms were loose at the ankle and fit looser around her legs than her jeans usually did. They billowed and moved around her as she hurried into the bathroom, closing the door behind her before the shivers began to rack her spine. Her flannel button down shirt wasn’t even enough to stop the chill in the air from seeping through to her. In the moment, she was mentally cursing even getting out of bed. But they had made plans for today!

The glass walls encasing the shower were frosty cold and she ignored touching them while she dialed up the heat on the shower’s controls, pulling the handle upward so the water shot out screaming hot. She yelped, jumping back and shutting the door on the cubicle until she was able to shuck her clothes. No sense in leaving sopping wet flannel on the tiled marble flooring when one didn’t have to… The flannel bottoms hit the floor around her ankles and feet in a puddle. Her black cotton thong panties, after her flannel pants came down, left her ass cheeks completely exposed to the cold and she shivered harder. “Christ…” She said in her heavily western country accent. As she straightened all the way she felt hands on her almost naked hips, save for the little thin strips of material that made up the waist of the panties. They were a man’s hands, firm, the palms and pads of his fingertips rough and calloused from working on the ranch day in and day out. She hadn’t even heard the door open behind her. She’d been too preoccupied with seeing her breath in the air and getting in the hot shower to get warm again. She felt him press up against her back end, his hard body against her back and his pelvis pressing against her bared cheeks. She smiled as the arms came fully around her middle, holding and pressing her fully against him. “Ah’was gon’ let ya sleep a li’l longer, baby…” She said softly as his lips pressed into her flannel covered shoulder, hearing his breathing alter as he took in her scent.

Kayce’s voice was low and smooth by her ear. “That’s alrigh’… Woke up when you lef’ the bed… Missed havin’ yer body next t’me…”

His fingers began to play with the buttons on her flannel pajama top. She grinned wider and pressed a kiss to his lips, his mustache tickling her just as his fingers did when they caught the naked flesh of her taut stomach and the full underside of her free, braless breasts. “Ya keep that up an’ we’re gon’ run the hot water out…” She murmured against his mouth.

“Nah… Le’s get in an’ make the most o’ it…”

An hour later they were both fully dressed, both of their heads of hair drying slowly. She’d blown both of them out with her high-powered hair drier but hair was stubborn in the autumn air no matter what someone did. She got her boots on and stood from the bed, crossing the distance from the bed to the foot of the bed where they had a little bench set. Kayce was finishing with his boots. He looked up just in time to see her lean over him and press a chaste, loving kiss to his temple, a second one to the bridge of his nose. “Ya ready? Should we get the baby up?” The baby she mentioned was Kayce’s son with Monica Long – nee Dutton since the official divorce – Tate Dutton.

“Yeah, we should.” Kayce was smirking sheepishly. “Kid was so excited las’ nigh’. You r’member. We could barely get him’n bed an’ asleep.”

“Can’ blame him none, baby…” Cara smirked back, looking proudly down on the love of her life as he sat there in front of her. “Ah’love tha’ he knows his heritage. Ah’love tha’ he knows where his mama came from, where he came from. Ah’d never disparage ‘er try an’ take that ‘way. Ah’wanna encourage that.” She paused, her fingers playing in his beard as she caressed his cheek and chin. “But that boys needs t’know what we done ou’ here, too. He needs t’be a Dutton kid. R’member when mama an’ daddy took us ou’…?”

Cara Amelie Dutton was adopted. It was official in that John and Evelyn Dutton had given her their last name, but it had always been very obvious and open that she was an adopted child. Unlike when Jamie had been adopted where no one knew, everyone knew about Cara. She didn’t know quite when she’d fallen in love with Kayce, the youngest Dutton and the closet in age to her – they were actually born the same day and thus, were closer in every other way too. They did everything together. They had literally grown up together. They’d been inseparable most of their lives. Until Monica. Until Kayce had left the family and left the ranch. But…all that was in the past and when Monica had left him, Kayce and Cara had finally gotten the chance she’d always wanted them to have.

A year later and Tate was a happy little cowboy in the making and Cara and Kayce were engaged to be married, with the tentative date in the next fall or the spring two years out. Everything was going perfectly…

“You don’t have to get me up!” Tate came into view at the doorway of the master bedroom that led out into the hall of the big house. “I’m ready! I’ve been ready for days!” He flapped his arms excitedly as Kayce burst into a joyous chuckle. The father’s eyes were twinkling in the firelight of the room with more happiness than he’d known since he and Cara had found each other again. “Come on dad! Come on, Chief! We need to gooooo!” Chief was Cara’s nickname on the ranch. It spanned the ages and anyone, whether family, friends, or employees, called her by it. It was a name of complete affection and reverential respect.

“It’s gonna be a long drive ou’, Tate. We gotta drive t’Oregon t’get some good ones.” Kayce finally recovered his composure enough to say. There was still a huge smile on his proud father’s mug. It wasn’t exactly true; you could find pumpkins almost anywhere these days thanks to farmers and lines of shipment being open across state borders. But if you wanted to pick your own… Well, Montana wasn’t exactly the right soil structure for all that. That was the surprise. That was what Tate didn’t know. They weren’t just going on this little road trip to buy pumpkins for Halloween, to carve and make roasted seeds to eat, and to paint. No, they were going to pick their own. Tate was going to pick his own.

“Yeah, I know! It’s gonna be a bummer!” He whined a bit on the last word, making sure they both knew he was, indeed, bummed about it. “Road trips are supposed to be fun, though! That’s always what Chief says!” He looks at Cara. “Right?”

“Tha’s righ’… Road trips’re where i’s at! Jus’ ask yer daddy ‘bout when mama an’ daddy took us all ou’ there fer ours one year.”

Kayce grins, side eying his wife to be. “Jamie an’ Beth nearly killed each other by the en’, Car…”

Cara shrugs, a smug smile on her lips. “Yeah, but we didn’…”

“Right! But once we get there it won’t matter anymore! Forgotten! Happy time! C’mon daaaaaad!” Tate pleaded, clutching his hands together as if in prayer, abject hope.

Kayce stood immediately, taking Cara’s hand with one of his, holding out the other to his son, clapping him softly on the head, mussing the kid’s hair. “Alrigh’, alrigh’… Le’s go li’l fam’ly.”

“Yessssssss!” Tate exclaimed, holding the ‘s.’

Cara chuckled with as much joy as she knew Kayce and Tate both felt. “M’ready, too. Alrigh’… M’comin’…” She watched as Tate pulled away from his father’s touch and ran down the hall, down the stairs. When she spoke again it was just to Kayce. “Ah’live t’see that kid s’damn happy… Ah’love him s’much…”

“I know you do, baby.” Kayce murmured against her scalp as he leaned into her and pressed a kiss into her almost dry hair. “Couldn’ have found anybody better fer him’n you… An’ even Monica can’ say shit ‘bout how happy an’ healthy that boy is with you.”

“Ah’couldn’ love him more… Ah’love him like ah’love ya…more than my own life.”

● ● ●

From sunup, for ten hours, they drove. Kayce and Cara switched seats halfway through so they could drive straight through, aside from stopping for potty breaks a few times. Their daddy and Tate’s grandfather, John Dutton, had been invited but he declined on the basis that it should be a trip, an experience for immediate family. Parents and their child/children. He had, however, put together a care package of food – sandwiches and veggies cut into manageable pieces and snack goods – and drinks for them to take along; make no mistake, the production of the sandwiches had been done by their cook on the ranch, Gator, but it was grandpa’s will and intention regardless.

“Are we there yet!?” Tate whined for the umpteenth time, closing the book he’d brought with him for the sixth time in the last three hours.

“My God, son!” Kayce exclaimed, turning in the passenger seat to look at him over the shoulder of the chair. “We gotta do somethin’ ‘bout this terminal streak o’ doubt you’ve acquired.”

Cara grinned and looked at the boy through the rearview mirror. “ ‘er as mama would’ve said, ‘ya wan’ some cheese with tha’ whine’?”

Tate huffed in the backseat and fell silent again. It wasn’t worth it, fighting with Cara because she was going to be his step-mom pretty soon. His dad and her were like two sides of the same coin and they worked together so well that he had literally zero chance at winning against them. At least when it had been his real mom and his dad, the lines of communication were open but sometimes rarely up to date between absences and other things happening. At least Cara was really cool, and she didn’t pretend to be his mother. She even said she didn’t want to replace Monica. She just wanted to help take care of him and help him grow up to be a young man, an adult that the world was lucky to have in it. He liked that. And he thought sometimes he was falling into the motions of loving her as much as his real mom, anyway… It didn’t hurt that she treated his dad better than anyone else in the world. It was a much better fit than his mom and dad had been in the last couple months before their split. He valued his dad’s happiness as much as his own.

It was only a half mile more and almost 2pm when the farm came into sight. It was a huge operation. Animals in the fields and apple trees in row upon row of fields that were heavily roped and fenced off from the others. His eyes widened until they were practically popping out of his sockets. His mouth fell open and he gasped audibly. “WOW!” Was the only word he managed in his awe.

Kayce and Cara exchanged a quick look and giant cocky grins. They knew exactly what this was going to do Tate. He would never, not ever, forget this day. And who knows, maybe they’d do it all over again over the years, a few times or so. And when Tate grew up and had kids of his own and was running the ranch, maybe he would drive his kids all the way out here and do this, too…

Kayce was turned to the side again in the passenger seat, his amber brown eyes never leaving his son as Tate experienced all of the scenery out this way, this part of the country, for the first time. His lips were in a perpetual smile that could not be removed. “You like it ou’ here?” He asked softly.

“Heck yeah!” Tate was practically bouncing in his seat now. “I almost like it better than the ranch! It’s so green! All over! I mean…home is, too, but… All these plants! And there are animals! It’s just… It’s everything!”

Kayce chuckled low, briefly. His eyes never left his son, intent on taking in every nuanced expression the boy could give.

Cara was just happy to be in the same SUV, experiencing the love of her life’s son’s happiness by proxy. The look in Kayce’s eyes was sheer, unadulterated mirth. No one in the world but a proud parent who was completely and utterly in love with their child and the ground they walked on could have so much love, so much pride, so much joy in their eyes. And Kayce…he had it all. “Hey, don’ go thinkin’ it don’ get no better…” She chuckled softly, herself. “Still ain’t seen the pun’kin patch…”

Tate’s eyes widened to the threat of bursting out again. “The pumpkin patch!?”

Cara pulled the SUV down a narrow dirt drive and angled it between a couple smaller barns and a shed for corn shucking and bean pruning. “Aw, c’mon! Ya didn’ think we had t’drive all this way jus’ t’get ya some pun’kins fer Halloween, did ya?” Her own smile was now lit by ethereal pride and mirth. “Came all this way s’ya could pick ‘em fer yerself!”

“This. Is so. Cool!” The boy exclaimed, now completely bouncing in his seat like a little jumping bean. He watched with rapt attention out the windows, turning his head this way and that to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He whipped his head back and forth too many times to count. The passed the last of the sheds and barns and right behind it was a large soil patch with too many leaves to count covering it, vines snaking across it to and froe. The SUV slowed and Cara put in park at the same exact moment Tate popped his seatbelt and opened the back door, jumping out. As he did so he was screaming. “Dad, c’mon! Chief, c’mon! These pumpkins are so stinkin’ BIG! Oh my God! Dad! These are bigger than, like, half of me!”

Kayce stepped out and slammed the door, chuckling and still beaming. His cheeks had to hurt. But it was fine. Everything was well. “They’re pro’ly bigger than all o’ you!” He called out loudly, looking for Cara as she came around the front of the vehicle and reached for her. Her hand slipped into his effortlessly and their fingers thread together. He looked down at them, joined there like that, and thought briefly about how else they’d been joined that morning. A slow wolfish smile took his mouth for a fraction of a second before it faded.

“Ah’saw that…” Cara didn’t give him any rest. “Don’ go thinkin’ ah’don’ know what’s goin’ on’n that sexy head o’ yers…”

He smirks, sheepish now. He had both animals inside him and he always chose based on which one Cara was at any given moment. “Hush… We can’ talk ‘bout that stuff with the kid s’close by. He’ll start squirmin’ an’ run off on us. An’ t’day’s s’posed t’be ‘bout fam’ly…”

“Every blessed day’s ‘bout fam’ly fer us, baby.” She reached up with her free hand as they walked over to the patch, to Tate, and tucked some of Kayce’s longish hair behind his ear and out of his face.

“Yer righ’… Yer always righ’.”

“Dad!” Tate called, dancing around one of the largest in the patch. “I want this one! But how in the HECK are we gonna get it off the ground and into the back of the car!?”

Kayce was beaming again. Today was so full for him. Today was so good. One of the best. “C’mon, son, don’ count us ou’ yet! ‘tween me an’ Chief we should be able t’get it fer ya.”

Cara leaned into him, pressing a kiss to his cheek just in front of his ear before whispering in it. “Ain’t sure ah’ll be much help. He’s not the only one gets a pun’kin surprise t’night…” When she pulled back Kayce’s eyes were clouded with confusion. “Aw, c’mon… Don’ tell me ah’gotta spell it ou’…”

His eyes widened infinitesimally. His jaw fell open just the slightest bit. Gentle shock. Her free hand was still on his face as her other remained clasped in his, fingers still threaded. She squeezed softly as he began to understand. “M’pregnant, baby…” She whispered again as she brought her lips to his. “Happy Halloween, daddy…”


End file.
